East Union shelled Central Catholic 7-0 Thursday on the road, securing its piece of the Valley Oak League championship.

Meanwhile, defending titlist Sierra took care of business at Manteca 3-1, while first-time champ Kimball completed the triumvirate with a 4-0 drubbing of Oakdale. The postseason begins on Feb. 14.

Giovanni Perez added three goals and one assist to his state-leading points total for East Union (8-20-0 VOL, 20-6-1 overall).

Alexis Machuca scored twice, Jose Maestas dished out three assists and Favian Gonzalez contributed two assists. Adal Guitron (goal), David Arellano-Garcia (assist), Luis Bucio (goal) also factored into the scoring.

Ripon Christian 5, Le Grand 1

Drew Meester put away four goals for the visiting Knights (4-7, 4-14 overall) in the Southern Athletic League contest.

Cade Van Groningen capped scoring with a header off Rick Van Unen’s initial shot that bounced of the crossbar. Joel Hendricks, Jack Dooley and Isaiah Vander Woude assisted Meester’s goals.

Goalie David Koolhaas came up with three saves.

GIRLS SOCCER

Ripon 5, Escalon 1

The Indians’ march to another Trans-Valley League championship finally hit a snag.

Host Escalon (2-4-2, 5-13-2 overall) tallied the first goal scored against Ripon in league play this year, taking the lead in the 12th minute.

It was all Ripon (7-0, 16-4-2) from there.

Jaydin Kroutil tied it with a penalty kick in the 18th’ minute. Sister Kaiya Kroutil pushed Ripon ahead with the 32nd minute, working off a through ball from Ynes Rodriguez.

Ripon dominated the second half, getting two goals from Ariana Daniels in the 51st and 54th minutes with assists from Katie Martin and recent JV call-up Maddie Reedy. Savanah Ponce capped scoring in the 70th minute. Kaiya Kroutil had the assist.

Ellena Parenti-Gomez collected seven saves in goal, as the Indians had a 28-12 shot advantage.

Ripon Christian 12, Le Grand 0

Ripon Christian (10-0-2, 16-2-3 overall) is closing in on the Southern Athletic League championship after this thorough drubbing.

Leading the charge were Dayna Koolhaas three goals, and Addison De Jong and Alanna Blanco each with two goals.

Kayla Coker, Tara Heidi, Hailey Henderson, Cilya Michel, Cora Vander Meulen added one each. Helping with assists were Addison and Maya De Jong, Anneke Dyt, Evan Benedict, Kara Koolhaas, Maya De Jong, Tatum Sonke and Taylor Postma.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Hughson 69, Ripon 60

Marcus Madoski registered 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocks at Hughson, but it wasn’t enough to help postseason-hopeful Ripon (6-4 TVL, 8-11 overall) pick up the needed road win.

Bradley Reedy added 12 points, including three turnovers.

Hughson improved to 3-7 in league.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hughson 43, Ripon 36

Ripon (4-6 TVL, 10-14 overall) tested TVL co-leading Hughson on senior night with scoring balance and defense. An 11-4 advantage in the third quarter gave the Huskies (9-1, 19-6) all the separation they needed.

Gabby Delgado scored nine points to lead Ripon. Kailee Inderbitzin contributed eight points and four assists. Makenzie Loechler had six points and eight boards.

Leading Hughson were Karenna Kang and Alexandra Gehrke with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

JV girls soccer

Ripon 9, Escalon 0

Rylee Agbayani, Emily Paxton and Starla Skiles each bagged a brace, while Jordyn Meeuwse, Gia Grewal and Malia Locarnini.

Frosh boys basketball

East Union 71, River Islands 56

The Lancers (8-1 VOL) had too much firepower for first-year River Islands.

Jackson Fay amassed 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Kirk Simoni pitched in 13 points and 13 rebounds. Sean Rutter sank four 3s for his 12 points. Anthony Oteri added six points and 11 boards.